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Thousands of repeat offenders keep appearing in court

Thousands of criminals are coming before the courts with more than 10 previous convictions, figures have shown. Some 166,529 cases in England and Wales involved criminals who had been punished more than 10 times before.

In numbers: Repeat offenders keep appearing in court

Figures released by the Ministry of Justice in response to a freedom of information request have shown that last year over 166,000 cases in England and Wales involved criminals with over 10 previous convictions.

In the 12 months to September 2013, 166,529 cases in England and Wales involved offenders who had been punished more than 10 times before.

Some 68,453 offenders with between six and 10 previous convictions were convicted again.

In the same period, 104,265 with between two and five convictions were convicted again.

A total of 51,578 had one previous conviction, while 112,532 had none.

The Ministry of Justice revealed figures last month which showed that in 2013 just over 103,000 offenders convicted of indictable crimes had 15 or more previous convictions.

That is the equivalent to 36% of all convicted offenders, which is up from 22% in 2003.